October 7th, 2008 by Gypsy

Photo: Wild Quaker Parrots in Flight Over Midwood, Brooklyn
How did they get here? It’s a long story!

Attention all Urban Parrot fans: the next Wild Brooklyn Parrot Safari will happen on Saturday, November 8th, 2008, at 12 Noon. All interested wild parrot fans should meet at Brooklyn College’s Hillel Gate, which is at the intersection of Hillel Place and Campus Road. Our tour runs in two sections. You can attend either section, or both, depending on how many wild parrots you’d like to see!

Please e-mail me if you want to attend, so I know how many folks are coming. Note: there is no rain date for this trip. If we’re rained out, please join us in December.

Wild Parrot Safari — First Section (Brooklyn College): 12:00 Noon to 1:30PM
At noon, we’ll inspect the Brooklyn Parrots’ “Ellis Island.” Their large nests around the soccer field represents the first major colony in Brooklyn. The site is easy to get to via public transportation. Just take the Number 2 train (Seventh Avenue IRT) to the end of the line, walk one block Southwest on Hillel Street past the new Starbucks, and look for the main Brooklyn College date. The tour begins at the entrance at Noon sharp. Allow some extra time, given that the MTA is doing lots of construction/train re-routing on weekends. Driving instructions are available at Brooklyn College’s main Web site. Parking is fairly easy to come by in the neighborhood. If you’re late, just call me: I’ll give you directions so that you can meet up with us if the tour is already in progress.

Wild Parrot Safari — Second Section (Green-Wood Cemetery): 2:30PM-5PM.
Due to popular demand, our monthly tour will run an optional “second section.” After getting our share of the raucous antics of the Brooklyn College Parrots, at approximately 1:45 PM, our group will walk to the Q Train (BMT) station at Avenue H and journey to Green-Wood Cemetery, where we will observe the late-afternoon antics of the parrots residing there. If you just want to see the Green-Wood parrots, show up at 2:30 PM and we’ll be there. To get to Green-Wood, take the R Train to 25th Street and walk one block East to 25th and 5th Avenue.

What to Bring/What to Wear
Please bring a photo ID (this is required by Brooklyn College Security). Bring binoculars and a camera if you’d like to immortalize your wild parrot-watching experience. The weather will be warm if not hot, and we’ll be exposed to the wind and possibly strong sun, so bring a hat/sunscreen if you have sensitive skin. I ordinarily do not cancel the tour unless the forecast is for sustained rain in which birds will not fly.

Please feel free to wear anything except bright orange (Monk Parrots freak out when you show them something orange: in fact orange tags are one of the best ways to convince Monk Parrots to build away from electrical infrastructure). Wear green, blue, white, but orange will drive away the birds.

This Tour is Free, But the Parrots Are Hungry!
The Wild Parrot Safari is free - if you wish to help your hungry urban feathered friends, bring some bird seed: trust me, the parrots won’t soon forget the gesture. Wild monk parrots also appreciate “real parrot food,” especially unshelled peanuts, sliced apples, and raw sunflower seeds. Finch food or millet are always welcomed by our hungry urban “peeps.”

See you in wild, exotic Brooklyn!

Steve Baldwin, Webmaster, BrooklynParrots.com
steve@brooklynparrots.com
646-361-2879 (phone)

September 21st, 2008 by Gypsy

Former Md. Firefighter Rescues Unwanted Parrots
December 30, 2007 - 1:55pm

DAMASCUS, Md. (AP) - Paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak following a car accident, former firefighter Brian Wilson credits his parrots with helping him get back on his feet.

Now, he is returning the favor by caring for birds others no longer want.

“I was supposed to be in a wheelchair, in a nursing home,” Wilson said, recalling how his parrots helped him recover from the brain injury suffered shortly after retiring as a Montgomery County firefighter in 1995.

“They kept repeating one word, and they knew I would say it right,” Wilson said.

“It was like I was a child. But it worked. They taught me how to talk again. Then I had to learn to walk, because I had to let them out and take care of them and clean their cages.”

Now, people bring him birds, often warning he won’t be able to hold them. He often amazes the owners by winning the birds over in minutes.

“Ninety percent of them have been so neglected, they don’t want to come out of their cage because they don’t know what will happen,” Wilson said.

Wilson speaks with a deep voice when he instructs parrots to step up or down, and softly when he tells them he loves them and gives them kisses as rewards. If they don’t respond correctly, he ignores them.

“They need attention all the time,” Wilson said. “I give them everything they want and deserve.”

They also need a balanced diet, Wilson said, noting seeds alone will cut their life span in half. Parrots enjoy fruits, vegetables, and even chicken bones, which they chew to get to the marrow, but can’t have chocolate, caffeine and avocado and apple seeds, which can be fatal.

Wilson said his finances are becoming tighter because he is moving from disability to retirement and is seeking donations for his Wilson Parrot Foundation, including a reliable van a car dealer might want to donate.

Government workers can help through the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Region and Central Maryland.

For those considering a parrot as a pet, he advises them to let the bird choose the owner.

“Know that they are messy, destructive and need attention,” he said.

___

Information from: The Frederick (Md.) News-Post, http://www.fredericknewspost.com

(Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

September 19th, 2008 by Gypsy

EVERY SUMMER EVENING, as dusk descends on Temple City, California, hundreds of raucous green and red parrots settle into the sweetgum trees planted along the city’s residential streets. Abruptly, the cacophony falls silent. It will begin again before dawn, as the birds take off toward the northwest to spend another day foraging for sustenance in the supermarket parking lots and suburban streets and strip malls of greater Los Angeles.

Some of San Francisco’s wild conures survey the city and Alcatraz island. (Photo courtesy of Mark Bittner.)

These are flocks of red-crowned and lilac-crowned parrots, also known as Amazons. Both are seriously endangered in their native Central American habitats. Here, however, their numbers are increasing. In this valley live an estimated 2,000 red-crowned parrots and an estimated 400 lilac-crowns. From all appearances, they are healthy, growing flocks.

And they’re not the only ones.

Read more…